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VANCOUVER — Labour relations in Canada tend to be straightforward. A union bargaining committee sits down with representatives of the employer and they negotiate a contract. If talks falter, job action follows, sometimes escalating into a full-scale strike. Picket lines are then established at the employer’s place of business leading to a loss of both wages and sales.

But there’s nothing straightforward about the truckers’ strike at Port Metro Vancouver. There are picket lines, to be sure, and a disruption of business. However, most of these job actions do not take place at the employer’s premises but rather at the port, even though the striking truckers do not work for the port.

The situation is complicated by the multiplicity of players: There are about 300 unionized truckers represented by Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers’ Association and an estimated 1,200 owner-operator non-unionized truckers loosely represented by the United Truckers Association of British Columbia. The UTA members withdrew their labour Feb. 26 and Unifor members followed suit Monday after members rejected a proposed settlement.

On the other side, the B.C. Trucking Association represents 1,200 trucking companies in British Columbia (more than 150 of them are active at the port) and the Western Canadian Shipper’s Coalition represents producers using containers to move commodities through the port. Then, there are 28 deep-sea and domestic marine terminals, of which four are container terminals — Centerm, Deltaport, Vanterm and Fraser Surrey Docks — all operated independently. As well, dozens of transloading, container storage and maintenance facilities have a stake in the outcome of this conflict.

Port Metro Vancouver cannot resolve the crisis on its own. It does not set rates paid to non-union truckers, nor is it involved in collective bargaining that establishes rates paid to Unifor members. The port’s primary role is that of the federal landlord; terminal operators are its tenants. But it is also a regulator and enforcer, ensuring the rates paid to non-union truckers set by legislation in 2005 are honoured. In addition, it manages the truck licensing system which governs the number of trucks permitted to use port facilities. That power enables it to take action against protesting truckers involved in threatening behaviour or impeding access to the port.

Truckers claim they wait hours to collect containers for delivery. They want a longer operating window than 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and to be paid for time beyond one hour they’re forced to wait. But the port has data showing the average turnaround time is an hour, that only five per cent of trucks wait more than two hours, and that 60 per cent take less than one hour. And they know this because the port, shippers and the trucking industry have worked to equip the truck fleet with global positioning systems. About 50 per cent of the fleet has GPS now and the goal is to have 100 per cent of the fleet on GPS by the middle of this year, Port Metro Vancouver President and CEO Robin Silvester said, adding that the turnaround times are in line with other ports in North America.

Terminal operators are unlikely to extend operating hours unless it is profitable to do so. Truckers complain that the terminals are effectively shut between noon and 12:30 p.m. but this lunch break is part of the contractual agreement between the terminal operators and The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and a change to staggered lunch breaks, common at other ports, would require a re-negotiation.

The port now operates at just 10 per cent of capacity, with cargo blocked on the docks, and some shipments are being diverted to Seattle.

Should the dispute drag on, the impact on the Canadian economy would be severe. A similar dispute in 2005 resulted in a six-week shutdown and estimated losses of $800 million. Each container that passes through the port is said to generate $450 in wages, $550 in gross domestic product and $1,200 in economic output. The port estimates that $885 million worth of cargo is affected by the work stoppage every week.

It is clear the port, the trucking industry and shippers are working to resolve some of the issues the truckers have raised — by building new roads and overpasses to reduce rail crossings and looking into extended gate times, for example. But given the union’s rejection of a deal brokered by mediator Vince Ready, as well as reports of vandalism on a truck and a recent rock-throwing incident in Richmond, it seems less clear that truckers are in a mood to negotiate a settlement.

henchin@vancouversun.com

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